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Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1142, 26 March 1872, Page 2

The Panorama of the American Wai", now being exhibited at the Volunteer Hall, was again well attended last evening. At the conclusion a large number of valuable prizes were distributed to the audience. The tea and coffee service, valued at four guineas, was won by Mr Geisking. The Panorama will be again exhibited this evening, when another distribution of prizes will take place. Reefton has been honored during the last week with the presence of two Celestial visitors, two natives of the "Flowery Land'? having permanently taken up their abode there. It wes rumored on their arrival that they were only an instalment of 200 more who are to follow in their wake. We do not think so, as quartz-reefing is not at all a favorite pursuit with John. The recent arrivals, we hear, intend going into gardening. They formerly kept a large restaurant at Ross, and are the first Chinese who have yet penetrated into these regions. During the past week two accidents have occurred at Charleston, although not serious ones, the unfortunate victims taking refuge in the hospital. George Conner, working out at the Back Lead, is suffering from a severe axe wound, received whilst in the act of splitting slabs. Another man, Hennis M'Cormack, received a severe fracture near the ancle, whilst walking on the road to Brighton, when near the Half-way House the end of a sapling protruding, he was tripped up, and thus the injury. Both men a/c progressing favorably under tha hands of Dr Henry. The prospectors at Rainy Creek are said by the Herald jiow to have their tunnel in 103 ft, and expect to strike the reef in another Bft. It is likely that . there will be a large increase in the population of this -locality this week, as the protection for the various claims were to cease yesterday, when it will be necessary for the holders to represent their interests. A large number of the Chinamen who arrivecTTn utago by iu c wkirWi*»<i J»«.<ro_£aima^ their way to Tuapeka. They are physically much inferior to those of their countrymen already settled in the Province, and many of them are exceedingly diminutive in proportions. Some of the persons employed at Katikati report a singular occurrence happening about three weeks ago. During an easterly gale, there was no ebb tide there for nearly two days, and it was high water all that time. This was no doubt caused by the extreme force of the wind acting on the water. A Mr James M'Pherson, of Christchurch, is a devotee of the International, and has published a work in which he attempts to show why the working men of New Zealand should become Internationalists. He recently addressed an open-air meeting at Christchurch, but was not very successful. The Inangahua Herald states that one of the greatest obstacles to the enlargement of the township— the scarcity of timber — will soon be removed, the steam sawmill belonging to Grahacn, Malfroy, and Co, hay : ing arrived in Reefton on Wednesday. The engine is a portable one of 16-horse power, and wa3 conveyed by Mr Fletcher . with a team of seven horses. When the mill is in full working order some 5000 or 6000 feet of sawn timber can be turned out daily. The proprietors expect to be able to supply timber in about a fortnight. The site for the mill is convenient, being only about half a mile to v the- north of the township, where there is a plentiful supply of timber suitable for building purposes. At the Resident Magistrate's Court, yesterday, before W. H. Revell, Esq., R.M,, John Gostridge was charged, on the information of Robert Hill, a digger on the South Beach, with stealing from him L2B on the morning of the 23rd inst. The prosecutor said : On the tramway, just outside the town, he met a woman coming in as he was going out. He came back with her to town, and "shouted " for her, changing a LlO-note. He left her, went up town, and returned to the place where the woman was. He met her opposite her own place on the tramway, and went into her tent. There was only a little boy there, about six or eight years old. This was after midnight. He remained there that night, but did not sleep, as he was afraid of his money. Befote he changed the LlOnote at the hotel he had three LlO-notes, and when he went to the tent he had two LlOnotes and the change of the other. About six o'clock in the morning he saw the prisoner at the tent. The woman wanted a drink of beer, and witness gave the prisoner half-a-crown to go for beer. He was looking about the tent apparently for something to fetch the beer in, when witness felt something touching his trousers, and looking round, saw the prisoner handling them. They were partly under witness's head. He at once put out his hand, pulled them in, and put his arm across them. Prisoner went out, and returned in a few minutes. Witness asked for the beer, and'he said he would go for. it if witness gave him a sixpence. Witness put his hand in his pocket, felt the notes were all right, put his hand in the other pocket,' gave prisoner a shilling, and, he went out. He had not been gone a minute, when he (witness) felt the trousers going outside under the tent. He jumped up, went outside, and saw the prisoner with the trousers in one haud, and the other hand in the pocket. He took the trousers and put them on, and found that the notes were gone. He held the prisonar until a man went for the constable. He held him until the constable arrived. Prisoner wanted to go inside to search for the money, but witness would not let him, and held him a few yards away from the tent. Oh looking round with the constable the notes were found lying on the ground a few yards from where they, had been standing. Witness picked them up and gave them to the constable, who counted them. The woman came out 1 of the tent while they were waiting, and prisoner had a half-sovereiijn and some silver which he wished to give to her,, bub witness ■ ■

would not allow him. When the constable counted the money there were two LlO-notes, one L5-note, and three LI -notes. In crossexamination, the witness said he did not know he was with the prisoner's wife. He was never ordered out of the tent, and prisoner did not throw his clothes out at the tent-door. The prisoner offered himself to be searched, and to go into the tent and look for the money, but witness preferred to hold on to him. When looked for, the money was easily found, lying where they had the struggle, about two perches from the tent. When the constable came prisoner wanted to be searched. Mr Sub-tnßpector Hickson asked for a remand for one day, for the production of further evidence, which was granted. The writer of-"Casual Notes" in the Daily Times, has the following with reference to the remarks of Mr Macandrew at the opening of the Port Chalmers Dock : -"It is a pity that occasions calling, for public speeches from Mr Macandrew do not more frequently present themselves, for "his remarks have a quaint naivete about them that is charming. For instance at the formal opening of the Graving Dock on Friday, he lets us into the secret of his mellifluous eloquence, which, he tells" us, he is nurtured by the genial influence of 'five or six tumblers of toddy." /.^ . In Tasmania the Episcopalians are desirous of co-operating with other religious bodies. Our files of Launceston papers supply us with the following from the report of the report of the proceedings at the Episcopalian synod now sitting — The resolution of the Rev W. Gellibrand, that some closer bond of union between the Churches of England and Scotland, the Free, Wesleyan, and Independent Churches is desirable, . was passed ; and a committee was appointed to confer with the authorities of these churches on the subject. The Church Assembly of Victoria, which met some. time ago, adopted a resolution permitting religious co-operation with other denominations, but no machinery was provided for carrying out the resolution. ■■• ; ■ ■ -■' ■ > .'■■ ■■ •• ;-■ ;-V "'■'■'j ' The Auckland Star says':— "Mr Wayte : ; has just put forth a little volume that will be a perfect treasure to volunteers, at least to those of them -who have any ambition to excel in shooting.: . It is a real vade mecuvi to the rifle butts, and will enable 'the shooter to correct [every error committed by eye or hand." It does not merely afford spaces for •marking the score of the marksmen and competitors, with distances, totals, .averages, &c, but it ha 3 for each event, plans of targets, spaced so that a shooter can mark down the very spot., on the plan where the ball has struck the target, at the same time recording the direction of the wind, the. hour of the day, &c, so that a competitor can calculate wherein an error may have been committed, and may accurately correct it on the next occasion." Not long ago a prisoner in one of the gaols — not a hundred miles from Dunedin— who had been sentenced to hard labor, resolutely refused to work on account of its severity. His rations were reduced— still he refused ; then he was consigned to the solitary cell, which is usually a most powerful persuasive,' for even a desperate criminal has a dread of a solitary cell, but his obstinacy was still unshaken. The Visiting Justices at length gave authority for him to be flogged, as it was necessary that discipline should be maintained, and ho was .tied up and received a dozen lashes. The " cat " brought him to submission, and after his back was healed he did his work without further trouble. When his sentence had expired, and he was leaving the gaol he said to the governor, JlJKon jyill_ney_er see me here again ; I can tell you that."" HTs experlence^f gaol life tad been such as not to tempt him to renew his acquaintance with it— yet, in the course of a few weeks, the same man was committed to the very same gaol for another term of hard labor. Tn the course of an address to a meeting in the Wesleyan schoolroom, Auckland, the Rev C. W. Rigg said :— Many understood that iSew Zealand during the last sitting of the Conference had been created into a district by itself, and that it could have a Con- . ference'of its own. This was, a mistake. What had been conceded was that there was now four Colonial Conferences : one for Sydney, one for Melbourne (including Tasmania), one for South Australia, and one for New Zealand. Those bodies would be nothing more than a sort of exalted district meeting ; they would have no legislative functions at aIL .The General Conference which would be held would be a sort of representative one. The superintendent and secretary of each of, these small conferences would be members ex officio of the General Conference, and also one minister for every ten , ministers in each of those small conference districts, so that they might be assured the General Conference would be a rather conservative body, as in all likelihood the elder ministers would always be elected to attend the Conference. A correspondent of the Charleston Herald relates the following :— On arriving on the Nine- mile Beach, the races which have hitherto supplied the miners are those of Messrs Hall, Parsons, andHarle. Recently Mr Hall has constructed a new race, and made additions to his dam,, at considerable expense, by which means he is able to benefit a. greater. number than; formerly. The new race of Harle's from the Totara, ia one of the works which is looked upon as likely to confer a permanent benefit to those whose claims are situated north of present supplies.; The levels have been taken by Mr A. Greenwood, and its length is, from its source to the lagoons at the rear of the beach, about a mile and three : qiiar.ters ; its construction consisting of fluming, cutting, and a portion tunnelling through hard limestone rock. It is cut to carry, and is registered for 8 Government heads, or in other words to supply 32 claims. The lagoons running parallel with the beach, now held by the proprietor, will be used as a dam, and the water will be flumed at intervals of 7 chains on to the beach. The whole of this race is now approaching completion, and in a few weeks we may see miners, now shepherding their ground, employed. The writer of weekly notes in the Nelson Mail makes the following humorous reference to the subject of electoral registration— " In my particular walk in life it falls' to my ; lot to peruse a considerable number of newspapers from all parts of the colony, and consequently I have it most forcibly, not to say monotonously, impressed upon my mind that this current month of March is the last in which those who are desirous of becoming electors will, for this year at least, have the opportunity of placing their names 'on the electoral roll. 'Register,'— usually twice, if not three times, repeated— -is a word that has become positively offensive to me. As I tear the covers off the various journals that come before I instinctively know that the verb to register in the imperative mood and printed in 'small caps,' as they;are'technically called, will be "the 1 first word to meet my wearied gaze, and, to increase my aggravation, there occasionally drops : from be-* tween the pages a form of registration which some generous and high-minded newspaper proprietor gratuitously distributes to his 'numerous readers.' The word' haunts me. As I blow my caudle out and get iuto bed I can, even in the darkness, see my bedroom walls placarded with the hated letters. My patchwork quilt crackles as I draw it over my eyea in the endeavor, to shut, out from my Bight the n it o &c, as though each patch consisted of a ■ registration paper; I

wake in the morning from an unrefrcshing sleep and as I proceed with my toilet the word -* registered ' meets my eyes, on. the neckband of my shirt ; my very toothbrush is 'registered :' I leave my sleeping apartment, and as I enter the breakfast-room the hateful participle stares me full in the face standing out in bold relief from the back of the' grate. " Bah ! I'm sick of this too active verb in all its moods and tenses. For Heaven's sake all ye wouid-be electors do the deed — I can't bring myself to write the dreadful word itself —at once, and have done with it for another nine months." r